


The Lost Knight | Doctor Who Series 1, Episode 3

by ReganInglis



Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Doctor Who References, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReganInglis/pseuds/ReganInglis
Summary: The past and present collide when a knight from the 12th Century falls into the present day. When the Doctor and Emelie discover this, they must hurry to stop him from slaying the dragon he's hunting...
Series: Doctor Who | Series 1 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624294





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

**_East Matfen, England - 1190 AD_ **

For Richard and Isabel, this day would be the beginning of a whole new chapter in their lives. They would look back on these events and treasure every moment that it would bring.

For them, marriage was the truest form of devotion and love.

They held each other’s hand tightly, a white ribbon looped around them. A symbol of declaration to one another.

Their eyes never left each other’s sight, nor did the smiles on their faces.

“My La--Lady Isabel,” Richard began, stumbling over his words. “From the moment I laid eyes on you, I understood you were the one.”

Isabel’s eyes widened as he spoke, her love for him crystal clear.

“I told you once that I would do anything to be with you, and I promise to continue so. Nothing will keep me from you. No matter how hard the world tries.”

Richard brought his face down to Isabel’s hand and kissed it softly. Peering up at her as he did so, he saw her cheeks redden slightly. Not out of embarrassment, but out of love.

Standing back up, it was Isabel’s time to speak.

“My Dear Richard, I lived my life with one possible outcome,” she said, “that being someone who is destined to be alone.”

Richard looked deep into her eyes, never breaking contact for even a moment as she spoke.

“But now, as I stand before you, I know that would never be for me. For while I believed I could live my life on my own, I am now unable to bear the thought of living it without you.”

The couple came closer to kiss, but an unholy roar erupted from outside suddenly.

Richard turned fast to look at the window overlooking the valley below. A shadow passed overhead, but was too quick to find any details.

“The beast,” he announced, “it has returned!”

Isabel grabbed Richard’s hand, pulling him back towards her.

“Richard, please! You don’t have to go!” she pleaded.

Richard had already begun putting on his armour as she begged for him not to leave.

“I must slay the beast, my love,” he replied, “I cannot see our village be burned to cinders from that foul creature.”

As he placed his sword into his holster, Richard came back to Isabel and held her hands tightly.

“Barricade yourself here, I beg of you. I’ll come back for you, I promise,” Richard said.

They shared a kiss before Richard let go of Isabel’s hands and left the house. Now alone in her house, Isabel let the tears fall down her face with no stopping.

* * *

The small village of East Matfen wasn’t the most populated village in the region. Barely 100 people lived there, and in neighbouring villages they tended to house more. East Matfen was mostly used for farming purposes, and feeding the people around them. That also included the villages around them. East Matfen may have been small, but it was important.

Outside Isabel’s family home, Richard found his trusted horse Valiant, tied to a tree stump just outside the house. He pulled his companion free and climbed atop him. 

Using his knees, Richard squeezed Valiant’s sides, ushering him to begin galloping.

The roar could be heard again, this time above Richard. As he travelled fast, he looked up to the sky, only to see the silhouette of the beast flying overhead.

The creature wasn’t as large as the tales had said. In the local tavern, Richard had heard rumours that it was 40-feet in length, but these must have been greatly exaggerated. Unless it was another beast entirely - _god forbid_ , he thought to himself - this was around 10-feet long. Covered in scales that gave off a red pearlescent shade, a pair of wings were set on the creature’s back, and were just longer than the width of the body.

Richard had heard tales of the Dragon’s attacks on neighbouring villages: houses and farms erupting in flames, livestock stolen in the night, villagers’ bodies turning up in the river. He was glad to not have witnessed the devastation, for it sounded truly gruesome.

Luckily for Richard, the beast hadn’t caught his scent, enabling him to get closer. One hand rested on the hilt of the sword along his side.

Valiant snorted suddenly, which unfortunately caught the attention of the beast above them. Lowering it’s long and scaled head to see them, the creature’s bright yellow eyes glared at him with rage.

Swiftly changing course, the beast flew over the trees of a nearby forest.

Richard wasted no time in changing course himself, desperate to catch up to the beast and slay it before it harmed anyone else.

The trees rushed past him as he and Valiant raced through the forest, the occasional glint of red in the skies above them.

“Come on! Faster”! Richard shouted out to Valiant.

The horse responded well, and soon the two were just below the beast once more.

However, Richard looked ahead of him, and saw the ground jut off, indicating they were nearing the edge of a cliff.

The beast accelerated overhead, passing over the remaining trees and over the cliff edge. Richard pulled on the reins, bringing Valiant to a standstill.

Up ahead, Richard saw the beast flying in circles, still glaring at him with fiery hatred.

He pulled his sword from the holster, readying it in front of him. The blade glinted in the sunlight as Richard held it up.

Roaring once more, the beast turned round and began flying towards Richard.

Richard pulled the visor down on his helmet; any protection was better than none. Squeezing Valiant’s sides, they rode forward at speed.

The beast was getting ever closer. Before it reached its target however, a strange portal-like structure blinked into existence. It was of a strange design, to say the least. It appeared almost like the very fabric of space had been torn from the inside, leaving a bright light within, and a blurry image of something behind the tear.

Unable to change course in time, the beast and Richard ended up failing to meet, and instead travelled straight through the portal, before it vanished out of existence…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP:  
> The Doctor and Emelie discover Sir Richard in the 21st Century, unsure as to how he arrived...


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

**_Hexham, England - Present Day_ **

“Sir, there’s a queue of people behind you. It’s no longer funny, can you please pick something?”

The Doctor paid no attention to the cashier as he scanned over the vast and (at least to him) complicated set of hot drinks available in the coffee shop.

Behind him, there was a fairly substantial queue of customers who were becoming more impatient by the second. Even the cashier was starting to become very irritated.

Next to him, Emelie herself was beginning to get irritated.

“What’s your most popular item?” he eventually asked.

“Americano. Or a black coffee,” the cashier replied.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

“Well which is it? The Americano or the black coffee?”

“Oh for Christ’s sake, he’ll have an Earl Grey tea!” Emelie blurted out, almost ready to burst.

The cashier punched the numbers through, glad that they finally had something to do beyond standing and waiting.

* * *

At the table, the Doctor stared at his cup, visibly confused as to its appearance.

“Earl Grey, you say?” he asked Emelie questioningly.

Emelie nodded through sipping her coffee.

“Yep.”

Confused, the Doctor pushed the cup away from him, and pointed towards the liquid that lay inside.

“Doesn’t look grey to me.”

“It’s not literal. It’s supposed to be named after Charles Grey, an Earl probably,” Emelie explained, “How on Earth can you not know that?”

“Human traditions, I’m not the greatest at them. Not sure what the phrase is for that.”

“An idiot?” Emelie asked, smirking.

She quickly brushed off the smirk to think about what the Doctor had just said.

“Hang on, what do you mean ‘human traditions’?”

The Doctor took a sip from his tea, seemingly enjoying the taste of it, despite the inaccuracy in the naming. Instead of responding, he just looked at her over his cup.

As Emelie tapped the tips of her fingers over her cup, she began putting the pieces together. The spacey-mumbo-jumbo that encompassed most of his talking. The way he talked about the human race like he wasn't truly on of them. Like an epiphany in her mind, Emelie understood the truth.

“Oh my God,” she gasped.

“Well not exactly,” the Doctor replied.

“You’re alien,” she deduced.

“Took you long enough,” he said, taking another sip of his tea.

“But you look like a human,” Emelie wondered, looking over the Doctor.

“Always quick to judge based on appearances.”

“Do you have a little creature inside your chest controlling you like a robot?” Emelie asked.

“Seriously?” the Doctor replied, slamming his cup down on the table, “If you were to slap me right now I think you’ll find that I’m--”

His sentence was cut short as Emelie took him literally and, with her right hand, slapped the Doctor in the side of his face. The strength of the slap was almost strong enough for him to hit the side of the window, causing a concussion. Luckily he was able to stop himself before any major injuries were created.

Cradling his cheek in his hand, the Doctor looked towards Emelie, who didn’t appear fazed by his red mark on his face.

“Okay, maybe I was asking for that one,” he admitted.

“Yeah, you kinda did,” Emelie agreed.

Suddenly, a sharp beeping sound came from the Doctor’s coat pocket.

Sat behind him, an elderly woman sat behind the Doctor’s chair turned round to tap him on the shoulder.

“Young man, can you please stop that infernal racket? It’s messing with my hearing aid.”

The Doctor looked towards her, seemingly uninterested in listening.

“But it’s beeping. It does that when there’s stuff.”

“Doctor!” Emelie shouted, trying to get his attention back on to the matter at hand.

“Right, yes. Sorry,” he said to Emelie, before turning to the elderly woman, “and sorry to you too.”

The woman seemed to accept his apology and turned back to enjoy her food.

The Doctor took the device from his pocket and placed it on the table between Emelie and himself.

The device was the same size as a typical smartphone, and its dimensions reflected that. It was covered in a seemingly random assortment of wires and lights, and a flick switch was placed directly in the centre. One of the lights was pulsing with a strong and rapid green light, while a speaker just next to it shrieked with a hectic beeping tone.

Flicking the switch, the beeping halted, but the light continued to pulse.

“So, you gonna explain what that is?”

“It’s a dimensional-interference tracker. Any time there’s an issue with the space-time continuum, this thing beeps to let me know.”

“And you just decided to carry it around today of all days?”

“Nope, always carry it around. Just in case.”

Another light on the device began to pulse, this time from the right-hand side. The Doctor looked out of the window, before suddenly jumping up from his seat and running for the entrance door. 

As the Doctor blasted out of the door and into the street, Emelie soon followed, just not at the same pace as he was.

“What are we looking for?” Emelie asked, trying to catch her breath.

“There’s a rupture somewhere nearby, we need to find it fast,” the Doctor explained.

Emelie barely had a clue as to what he was going on about, but looking at his overall demeanour, it must have been bad.

As she thought this, he took off down the road, towards a nearby farm

“Well hurry up!” Emelie heard him shout as he ran away.

Looking back at the coffee shop, Emelie saw some of the visitors looking through the windows at her, seemingly as confused as she was.

She shrugged her shoulders at them, before following the Doctor towards the farm.

* * *

As Joe halted work with his tractor, he hadn't expected to see some kind of portal emerge right in front of him. Had he not spotted it appearing, he might have lost both himself and the tractor through the strange apparition.

He went into his pocket to find his phone, before being halted by the arrival of the Doctor.

“No need! I’m here!” he yelled as he ran towards Joe.

“You’re a policeman?” Joe wondered.

“Well pretty much,” the Doctor replied.

Joe eyed him up, looking at his yellow flannel shirt and black jacket. He certainly didn’t present the appearance of a policeman.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look like one.”

The Doctor gave a look at Joe that was nearly one of annoyance or offence.

“Right, that’s two times today, can you not?”

Emelie eventually caught up with the two men arguing, before she looked towards the mysterious portal.

“Is that it?” she asked.

“Yeah, space rupture,” he confirmed, “I think it’s best you get away from here,” he then said to Joe.

“This is my land!” Joe protested.

“At this rate, I honestly don’t care. But if I don’t try and get rid of this, you might not have any land left, understand?”

Joe shook his head.

“Not really, no.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes at Joe’s lack of understanding.

“Human brains, honestly never cease to amaze me.”

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from the Space Rupture, causing the three to step a few paces back.

“Was that my cow?” Joe asked.

Both Emelie and the Doctor stared at Joe in disbelief.

“The day your cow sounds like that, you come to me,” the Doctor replied.

Before Emelie could chime in, a huge flying creature came through the Rupture, nearly crashing into her and the others. Luckily, they all dropped to the ground before they could be injured. 

The creature took little notice of them as it flew up into the sky, away from them and the Rupture.

As Emelie gasped in amazement, she turned to the Doctor who shared a similar facial expression.

“Was that a-- was that a Dragon?” she asked him.

“Erm… yeah. Yeah I’d say so,” he admitted.

“What’s a Dragon doing on my land?!”

“What’s a Dragon doing on this planet at all, get a little perspective man!” the Doctor said bluntly, much to Joe’s annoyance.

Suddenly, another shape began to emerge from the other side of the Rupture. The Doctor walked round to see the other side, followed closely by Emelie and Joe.

“What else have you got for me?” he muttered under his breath.

The shape soon began to present more details, and soon the visage of a Medieval knight on horseback appeared through the Rupture, nearly knocking the Doctor over.

“Seriously?”

The knight stopped shortly after emerging, and took a look around at his surroundings. Though his face was hidden behind his helmet, he was very much terrified as to where he was.

For it looked like the land he came from, but there were large, silvery structures in the distance, attached to each other with a string-like substance. To the modern-day person, these were obviously pylons.

But to Sir Richard, these were something else entirely.

Another roar from the Dragon sounded out, far into the distance. Richard heard this and quickly turned around to see he was being looked at by three people. He paid little attention to them as the shape of the Dragon could be seen in the distance, slowly shrinking as it flew away from this place.

“My destiny is calling!” Richard announced, before riding past the trio, who looked on in pure bewilderment.

None of them could even find the right form of words and sentences to describe what had just occurred. Eventually, they all breathed out slowly, trying to understand what was going on.

“So, knight?” Emelie asked.

“Uh-huh,” the Doctor replied.

“Why?”

They all looked back at the Rupture, but it soon began to blink in and out of existence. Shortly afterwards, it vanished in its entirety, like it was never there.

“Space- _Time_ Rupture.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richard ventures across this foreign world, all while the Doctor and Emelie try desperately to find him...


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

All around this region of the UK, there were plenty of mines and quarries to be found, with each serving a different purpose. For some, it was simple coal mining, despite the country attempting to reduce it’s usage of such a material.

The Briant Davis Mine was designed specifically because it was in an area rich in gold minerals,the sort of material that pays a rather large sum given the correct amount and the right buyer.

Situated on the edge of a relatively large hill, the team at Briant Davis had left the site earlier in the day. The number of gold minerals available was shrinking rapidly, and as such the site was becoming far less profitable than it used to.

They had already begun discussing other sites nearby to try and investigate, hoping that the area still contained the gold they needed.

For Robert, he watched as the other workers departed in cars and vans, in order to return to their families. They may have been disappointed about the lack of any findings, but they had enough to get by for now. Very soon however, that would change.

As Robert took a swig from his thermal mug, he heard a distant sound in the far distance.

He stood up and looked all around the area, but couldn’t find any source for the strange sound.

He went to sit back down, but not until the sound was heard again, only this time it was much louder than before. Whatever it was, it was getting closer.

This time, Robert didn’t need to stand up to see what it was - he could see it coming towards him.

The culprit in question, a creature that appeared to look like a Dragon was flying overhead. It hadn’t noticed Robert, it’s intentions were not to eat any human it found. 

Robert studied it’s movements as it continued it’s flight. The creature’s head was darting back and forth around it, potentially finding somewhere to rest it’s body.

This thought was soon confirmed when it spotted a large cave system on the hill directly opposite Robert, and it began descending towards it’s target.

At this point, Robert felt like he should call someone and get help. But who would believe him if he said he’d seen a Dragon trying to nest on a hill? He’d be the laughing stock for everyone to see and hear.

Instead, he took out his phone and began to record the situation unfolding.

As he recorded, the Dragon had already landed in the cave and began to nestle inside. Was it tired? Or was it hiding?

Robert had no idea. All he knew was that he had to show people.

He finished recording the video, and began to upload it to his social media.

* * *

“Judging by the style of his armour, I’m gonna go with the 12th century. Late 12th Century perhaps?” the Doctor contemplated.

“But why’s he here?” Emelie continued to ask.

“Well he was clearly chasing down that Dragon creature, whatever it was. So unless the Dragon was in the 12th Century?”

As the two friends consulted each other, Joe just stood back and watched them. He didn’t have the faintest clue as to what was going on, and given the way they were talking, it was clear to Joe that this wasn't the first time they’d encountered something strange going on.

“Isn’t anyone gonna call the police?” Joe asked them.

“I thought you already had,” the Doctor replied.

“You showed up before I could dial the number!”

“Oh yeah…”

Emelie wasn’t listening to them rambling, and was instead tapping various buttons on her phone.

“I’m sorry, are we boring you?” the Doctor asked her.

“Nope, I’m just being useful while you two are bickering.”

“Doing what?”

She showed her phone screen to the Doctor. It presented her Twitter timeline, with various photos and posts concerning a certain knight on horseback.

“#thelostknight”, she said.

The photos detailed various instances of the knight riding through the streets, even past the coffee shop Emelie and the Doctor had been in earlier.

“Well at least he isn’t causing chaos.”

“He’s probably scared. Think how different this world is from his own, what must be running through his head,” Emelie pondered.

“We need to get to him quickly, before he ends up hurting anyone,” the Doctor replied. “And luckily, we have the best sat-nav for finding medieval knights,” he said, pointing at Emelie’s phone.

* * *

As Richard continued down the path, it was only Valiant who seemed unfazed at the change in scenery. All around him, the world appeared foregin in both construction and feel. Nothing resembled the land he once came from.

Further down the road, he came across a strange object to be sure. It had four wheels, two on each side. Similar to a carriage. But there was no horse in front to pull it along. Instead, Richard could see another person sitting inside the foreign carriage, pressing down on something inside. As he pressed down, a sound not too dissimilar to an olifant from his world played out. The man inside appeared distressed, waving his hand around in an irritated fashion.

Unsure as to the meaning of this, Richard stayed put. However, the man inside began to move the “carriage” forward, towards Richard. He took this as to get out of the way, and did so.

The man continued past, but not before scowling at Richard from behind the window.

Looking all around him, Richard could plainly see that he didn’t fit in here. Not in the slightest.

There were no horses being rode. No knights. Nothing from his world could be seen here.

Where was he?

He continued down the road once again, desperate to find out where he was, and where the Dragon was. He may have been in a foreign land, but his destiny was still in motion. The beast must die.

As he went further down, he saw a strangely familiar sign: _Matfen - 11 miles._

 _Matfen?_ Richard thought to himself. 

The same name as his own village? Was it possible?

Without further ado, he squeezed Valiant’s sides and took off down the road, hopefully towards his home.

* * *

By the time the Doctor and Emelie reached the town centre, Richard was long gone.

Beyond a few people laughing at photos on their phone - presumably of Richard - there was no clear indication as to which direction he went in.

“Excuse me!” Emelie shouted towards one of the groups of onlookers. They paid no attention to her shouting, continuing to focus on their phones.

“Oi!” she tried again, this time eliciting a response from the onlookers.

“Where’d the knight go?”

They didn’t say a word, but gestured down the road to the right, leading towards the village of Matfen.

“Start Googling,” the Doctor said.

“About?”

“12th century knights in this region, especially ones that vanished from record,” he explained. “Should hopefully make it easier for us to find him.”

Emelie spotted an empty taxi coming down the road, and quickly waved her hand in the air to signal its attention. Luckily the driver saw her and pulled in just next to her.

“Come on Doctor, get in!”

The Doctor liked the idea and joined her in the back of the taxi.

“We need to get to Matfen, can you get us there?” Emelie asked the driver.

“Yup,” the driver replied.

As the Doctor relaxed, Emelie continued scrounging through the internet, trying to find any clue as to who the knight was.

* * *

The village of Matfen was a stark contrast to Richard’s memories of what it once was. THere were far more houses to be found, and the population was definitely larger than he remembered. It could only hold around 100 people, but this looked like six times that much. But he didn’t care. Right now he needed to reach the edge of the village, if his memory served him right.

Isabel’s house in 1190 wasn’t the biggest house around, but it was certainly the most comfortable. Even just to look at. The design and architecture of the exterior alone would bring anyone in to see more.

But as Richard came up to the house, it was clear that majesty was all but wiped out. The area had remained mostly intact, and he was able to navigate himself relatively easily thanks to the road remaining the same.

Where the house should have been, there was now just demolished remains. Hints of where the walls were could be seen jutting out of the ground, but little else was left.

The grass that lay outside the front had been left to overgrow, and was now unkempt and abandoned. It was clear that no-one cared remotely for the house, which made Richard very sad indeed.

“Isabel--,” Richard muttered. He thought back to the last time he saw her: telling her to hide in fear of the Dragon killing her and everyone in the village.

They hadn’t even finished the marriage ceremony.

Richard had already begun to cry ever so lightly as he came up to the house. As he tried desperately to wipe the tears from his eyes, he heard a squeak from behind.

He pulled his sword from his holster and turned sharply to see… a small boy. Riding his bike through this area, and had paused to look at the knight.

The boy seemed unfazed by the sword, almost like he knew that Richard would never think of harming him.

Eventually, Richard relaxed his sword arm and placed the weapon back into the holster.

“Where am I?” he asked the boy.

He remained silent. His parents had always told him to never talk to strangers, like all parents would to their children. But there was something else about this man. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“Matfen,” the boy finally replied.

Richard was already aware as to where he currently was, but was still confused.

He looked at the clothes the boy was wearing. They certainly weren’t a popular fashion choice where he came from.

He’d had a theory postulating in the back of his mind for some time now, but was too terrified to acknowledge the very possibility of it being true.

The strange carriages without horses, the light-up devices in people’s hands. The boy’s clothes. 

They definitely weren’t from his village, nor were they from any village he had ever ventured through.

The same thought kept pushing to the front of his mind. At this point, he knew the truth.

“What year is it?” he asked.

The obvious feeling the boy should have had was bewilderment, but his wild imagination had already led him to the truth as to who this man was. If he was just pretending, he was doing a wonderful job at it.

“2020,” he confirmed to Richard.

Richard gasped as he heard the boy’s response. Was it truly possible? He looked back to the house. The ruins looked damaged beyond repair, but also incredibly old. He knew without question that the boy was indeed telling the truth.

“Isabel--,” he said to himself.

“Who?”

“She’s my--,” Richard began, “she’s my wife.”

He turned away from the house, the pain beginning to build up inside him. Beyond the fields, he could see a church sitting in the middle of nowhere, but in far greater condition than Isabel’s home. Just next to it, tiny points of black could be seen, possibly gravestones.

“Isabel,” he repeated, before marching past the boy and returning to Valiant.

He knew where he must go now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richard's hunt for answers leads to devastating revelations...


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Richard was correct in his assumptions of the church. A number of cars were parked outside, indicating it was still being used by people. But there was no-one around outside to see him come up.

As he arrived, he saw the graveyard situated right next door, teeming with gravestones of alternating sizes and designs depending on the deceased.

He disembarked from Valiant and trudged through the muddy terrain into the graveyard.

The gravestones certainly represented the passage of time over 800 years. Many of the stones still had writing engraved on them, but had been weathered away by the elements as the years rolled by.

Richard continued through the stones, almost pleading with himself to find what he seeked. But there were far too many unreadable stones for him to find the correct one.

He felt helpless now. As he knelt down in the mud and grass, his breathing began to quicken, the anger inside boiling over. He took a clump of grass in each hand and through it around him in a fit of rage.

“Is this what you want of me?!” Richard shouted up towards the sky, almost like he was pleading with God for an answer.

“Is this my path?” he asked, somewhat quieter this time.

He didn’t hear footsteps coming up near him as he wept into the ground.

“Sir Richard?” came one voice.

The sound of his name drew him up quickly. How could anyone know who he was?

He looked up to see the Doctor and Emelie, complete strangers to him. Yet they seemingly knew who he was. How?

“Sir Richard Melvin,” the Doctor clarified.

Richard shook his head.

“You don’t know me, strange man,” Richard replied.

“Born on 28th February 1152, lives in East Matfen,” Emelie continued on from the Doctor.

The lost knight was flabbergasted by the possibility of his very existence being knowledge to someone. He couldn’t find the words to respond.

“You’re a long way from home, Sir Richard,” the Doctor said. “Let us help you.”

Richard got up from his knelt stance and began to walk past the two strangers.

“You cannot help me. No-one can,” he replied, trying to shield the tears from his eyes.

He came up to Valiant before the girl spoke to him.

“You’re looking for Isabel, aren’t you?” she asked him.

Richard froze in his place. It was one thing for them to know who he was, but Isabel? Surely this was all a trick. Maybe he wasn’t in the far future. Perhaps he was in Hell?

“Isabel?”

Emelie nodded. “Lady Isabel Coulby, your wife.”

He could only look at the pair in disbelief. Their knowledge of not just him but Isabel too was seemingly impossible for him to comprehend.

“Who are you? Are you demons?” he demanded, looking all around him. “This must be Hell, surely?”

The Doctor tried to help him relax.

“Let us show you Isabel, Richard. Then I think you'll start to understand what’s happening,” he pleaded with the knight.

Reluctantly, Richard nodded in acceptance, and followed the pair as they returned to the graveyard.

After some spotting, Emelie came to one of the gravestones. Richard would never have seen it as it wasn’t particularly very big. Compared to those either side of it, the gravestone looked miniature in between them.

The writing on the gravestone was much clearer than the others.

“Take a look,” Emelie said, gesturing towards the stone.

Richard knelt down to read the inscription:

**In Memory of Isabel Coulby**

**Who Died 17th June 1191**

**Aged 30 Years**

**_I lost you in this life, but I will see you again in the next._ **

Emotions flooded Richard’s mind, the strongest of which caused the tears to fall down his face with no end.

It was one thing to never possibly see his wife again, but to discover when she died? That was something else entirely.

“She never found anyone else,” Emelie revealed to Richard. “Her heart always belonged to you, even after you disappeared.”

Richard began to wipe away the tears from his face, before getting up to face the pair..

“It may look rubbish, but it’s not Hell, Richard. You’re in the future, about 800 years from your own time if Emelie did her research accurately,” he explained. “But I think you knew that didn’t you?”

He nodded.

“This world is unrecognisable to me. I had either descended into the depths of Hell itself, or I had been transported into the very far future. I tended to favour the former.”

The Doctor smiled.

“I must slay the beast. It’s all I have left now,” Richard announced.

“Erm no, I don’t think you should--”

The Doctor was cut off by Richard pulling out his sword and aiming it at his throat, mere inches from an instant death.

“Do not try to change my mind, little man,” he threatened.

“Okay, now we’re doing this apparently,” the Doctor said, raising his hands in the air like a protest.

“You don’t understand, Richard. Killing the Dragon won’t help anything,” Emelie chimed in, pleading with him not to plunge his sword into the Doctor.

“It might not attack my village, but it won’t be threatening any other village once I bring my sword down on it’s heart.”

The Doctor began to shift backwards a couple of steps, his foot hitting the edge of another gravestone, grand and silver. This was a knight’s gravestone, even having a display of what must be the knight’s armour holding a sword, the hilts gripped tightly with both hands and the blade directed to the ground.

Richard dropped his sword from the Doctor’s throat and returned to Valiant, climbing onto the horse’s back.

“You will not follow me any further. My destiny is calling!” Richard proclaimed, before setting off down the road, the direction completely unknown to the pair.

They were true to his word, and kept well back as he left the graveyard.

“What do we do now?” Emelie asked.

The Doctor gestured for her phone. “Gimme that.”

She gave him the phone and watched as he searched through her Twitter profile.

“This was rather good at finding Richard, so I’m hoping we can find-- yes! Aha!” he shouted out. 

He turned the phone screen in Emelie’s direction, revealing a video clip recorded at the Briant Davis Mine, in the hills not too far from where they were standing. The clip showed the Dragon inside a large cave dug into the hills, seemingly uninterested in doing anything other than resting.

“Found our Dragon,” he said, smiling at his accomplishment.

Emelie looked towards the hills, specifically those that were just over a mile away from them.

“You sure it’s still there?” she asked him.

The Doctor checked the details on the video, primarily the date of upload.

“Uploaded about twenty minutes ago, can’t imagine it wants to leave anytime soon.”

Peering past Emelie at the knight gravestone, the Doctor spotted the sword in the knight’s hands. He looked up to Emelie and smiled.

“Let’s go catch us a knight,” he confirmed, “and a Dragon too.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two warriors clash as the fate of the Dragon is decided...


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Robert went through his Twitter feed, looking at the reactions users were giving him for his video of the Dragon.

So many likes and comments, some claiming it was fake, others fully believing the Dragon was very real.

For Robert, he was loving the conversation. Briefly looking up from his phone, he saw a sight he likewise wasn’t expecting: a knight on horseback, coming up the hill towards the cave.

The pairing of a Dragon and a knight was too perfect for Robert, and angled his phone to record the event as it happened.

* * *

Richard dropped from the back of Valiant, and walked up to the mouth of the cave.

Smoke was billowing out from the cave in frequent motions, indicating it was the Dragon’s breathing.

Slowly creeping up to the cave, Richard pulled his sword from his side as silently as he could. If he could slay the beast before it caught wind of his presence, it would be far less challenging. He dropped his visor down in front of him, readying himself.

He caught a gust of the smoke up his nostrils as he ventured closer. The smell was so strong Richard nearly keeled over and started coughing dangerously. Luckily, he was able to ignore it for the most part, focusing on the task at hand.

Richard noticed the smoke billowing from the Dragon had ceased. The area was much clearer than it was before.

Suddenly, the Dragon opened it’s bright green eyes, the sharp irises targeted directly at the knight himself.

Without any other thought, Richard turned round to run out of the cave, the Dragon beginning to fully wake up.

As he exited the cave, the Dragon began to follow him out in pursuit, it’s movements a little sluggish due to being woken up too early.

Richard continued up the hill, aiming for the summit. The Dragon had already clocked on to his route and extended his wings to full length. Kneeling down somewhat, the beast soon began to lift into the air, it’s destination in sight.

By the time Richard reached the summit, he was greeted by a sight he never expected: the Doctor, sword in hand. Was he looking for a fight?

“I tried to warn you, Richard. You can’t kill the Dragon,” the Doctor said.

Richard opened his visor to view his would-be opponent. He wasn’t having any of it now.

“And why shouldn’t I? Why must you try and take my destiny from me?”

“Because that Dragon is innocent,” Emelie’s voice announced, coming from behind Richard.

The knight turned to see the girl standing by where he came from. Now he was outnumbered. Although they only had one sword.

“Innocent?” he asked questionably. How was that possible?

“The village in flames was an accident caused by a careless villager playing with fire. The Dragon had nothing to do with it,” the Doctor explained.

“The livestock going missing were stolen by people from a rival household, they wanted better meat for their family,” Emelie continued on.

“And the bodies in the river were those who’d perished in a flash flood,” the Doctor finished.

The Dragon roared as it flew overhead, circling the summit of the hill. But it never came closer, nor did it really want to presently.

“How-- how is this possible?” Richard demanded, still believing the Doctor was lying.

“We did our research, Richard,” the Doctor replied.

“Erm,  _ I  _ did the research!” Emelie clarified, the Doctor acknowledging this.

“Yes, thank you. There’s no record of a Dragon being involved in any of this, not at least that one,” he pointed at the beast in the sky, continuing to circle the hills.

“All this time, you wanted to blame that poor creature for all of this, but it was never hurting anyone. It was scared of you all. Why do you think it chose to come here as opposed to burning down every town it flew over?”

Richard couldn’t find the words to respond. Surely it was all lies? Was it really possible that there was a mistake here, that the beast was merely trying to run away?

“It doesn’t belong on this world, it just wants to go home. But you and your knights keep hunting it, trying to murder it for actions you yourself caused. I’ve already lost one creature to the mistakes of Humanity, I will not lose another!” the Doctor declared.

Richard stared at the Doctor, unsure how to proceed. Though he might not fully know him, he did believe the Doctor was speaking the truth despite everything inside him telling him otherwise.

He looked up at the Dragon continuing it’s flight pattern in the sky above them.

“Well then,” Richard began, “If I can’t have my destiny fulfilled, then you can’t have your life!”

He lunged at the Doctor, ready to kill him where he stood. Luckily, the Doctor brought his sword up in time to block his attack.

In the sky, the rupture emerged, splintering the sky around it and leaving a gaping hole of nothingness within.

Emelie saw the rupture and tried to spot the Dragon. The creature was already beginning to venture away from the area in search of food of some kind, failing to notice the rupture.

“Doctor! The rupture!” Emelie shouted to the Doctor, gesturing to the floating portal in the sky.

“You have to find a way to get it through! Do whatever you can!” the Doctor replied, holding his stance firm against Richard.

Hearing his words, Emelie nodded and ran down the side of the hill, towards the gold mine.

Richard and the Doctor pushed against one another, neither letting up just yet. Attempting to push him back, the Doctor dragged the blade of the sword downwards to reach the hilt of Richard’s, before shoving the knight back.

“We don’t have to do this, Richard,” the Doctor pleaded, but to no avail.

Richard swung his sword at the Doctor again, rather aimlessly. He didn’t have a specific target in mind, he just wanted to ensure the Doctor wouldn’t get up again if he went down.

“You robbed me of my chance at victory, demon! I have nothing left!” Richard shouted back in reply.

“You can have a new life here, in the 21st Century. Begin again if you--”

The Doctor caught Richard before he impaled him on the blade of his sword, deflecting it away and sending the knight careening away a few feet.

“If you just stop and listen!” the Doctor finished.

Richard slowly got up, his energy fading every time he tried to initiate another attack.

The Doctor had given up trying to fight him, instead dropping his sword on the ground. An act of surrender.

“No more, Richard,” the Doctor said, the exhaustion in his voice very apparent.

As the two swordsmen faced off, Emelie had reached the entrance to the gold mine in the base of the hill. The dragon’s lair was situated directly opposite. For what appeared to be a monster ripped from the pages of history and mythology, it certainly kept up the stereotype of it’s fondness for gold.

Emelie entered the mine and tried to search through the belongings of the miners, desperate to find the mineral she was seeking.

Above the mine, Robert was continuing to monitor the situation, his phone never leaving sight of the event going on. While he still occasionally focused on the dragon flying overhead, his new focus was on the strange girl looking through the mine.

Like they hadn’t already struggled to find gold, how did she expect to fare?

Emelie eventually gave up her search.  _ Useless _ , she said to herself.

Suddenly, her brain thought something: if the dragon wanted gold, why wouldn’t it have made its nest in this mine?

She quickly darted out of the mine and saw the dragon’s cave opposite.

“Because the gold’s in there!” she exclaimed. 

Without question, she ran into the cave and immediately recognised a stark difference between the two locations: the floor of this particular cave was just a tad shinier in places.

Kneeling down to the ground, Emelie saw the prize of the cave. The dragon had been digging holes into the cave floor and retrieved various pieces of gold. Whatever its claws were made of, they were definitely stronger and more efficient than typical man-made machinery.

Emelie was able to pull some of the gold from the ground and hold it in her hand. It’s size was unremarkable - barely filling her palm. But the price it would go for on the market was near £100. 

Even Emelie was slightly tempted to take some for herself. Just a few pieces and she could be set up for a long time.

But no, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

She took various pieces and bolted out of the cave, towards the top of the hill. She failed to see Robert, still watching her as she went about whatever business she was up to.

Eventually, she reached the top of the hill, though not without losing out on precious breath.

In the skies, the dragon was still circling the area, unaware of the portal to take it home, or at the very least, away from this world.

Taking the gold from her pocket, Emelie positioned herself so the Sun was shining on her. She needed the Sun to focus on the gold in her hand.

Luckily for her, the Sun heard her plea, and the light from the distant star began to shine on her. The gold began to shine brightly in her hand, and she held it up as high as she could reach.

As the dragon angled itself, it spotted the gold in Emelie’s hand:  _ the gold that was rightfully his. _

His course dramatically altered and was soon facing in the direction of the tiny human on the hill.

Emelie had to act fast. She was unsure as to whether or not the dragon would engulf her in flames, or would just fly on past her. Favouring the former, she decided there was only one way. 

Holding the gold tightly in her hand, she bent her knees, like she was ready to jump. Indeed she was, and soon she unbent her knees and launched herself into the air, throwing the gold as high as she could.

The minerals glinted in the sun as they flew higher into the sky. The dragon drew its attention to the gold, disregarding Emelie who was now lying on the ground.

The dragon’s eyes focused on the gold, before looking slightly higher: it could now see the rupture floating in the sky.

It was clear what it would do. Leaving this tiny world behind it, the dragon flew higher into the sky to come face-to-face with the rupture. 

Soon, the dragon’s shape morphed into the rupture, now free at last from any dangers from knights that wanted to claim its head as their prize.

Hopefully.

On the hill, Emelie began to cheer, genuinely pleased with herself that her plan worked out. The Doctor waved over at her on the opposite hill, but Richard knelt to the ground. He felt genuine disappointment that he was unable to slay the dragon, despite the promises he had made to Isabel, the other knights and all in the village. What would they think of him now? A failure? A coward?

Those questions mattered less and less as the day went on. Now he would never know what they thought. For all intents and purposes, he was lost. Lost in another time. Another world. Forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> His destiny altered, Sir Richard must find a way to move on...


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

In the remains of Isabel’s family home, Richard looked around at what was left. Very little of the original shape could be seen, only edges of the walls in the ground.

The Doctor stood against where the door once stood, watching the knight go through where he once walked 800 years prior. Now nothing but fossils in time.

Richard soon gave up in trying to find anything he recognised. It was a futile gesture.

“Was she happy? In the end,” Richard asked the Doctor, who nodded.

“She was. She held onto the memory of you, and the promise you made to her,” he explained.

The tears fell in free-flow, Richard wasn’t interested in hiding his sadness anymore.

“If this had happened earlier, I might have been able to get you home,” the Doctor admitted.

Richard jumped up in curiosity.

“What do you mean?”

“Yeah, what do you mean?” Emelie’s voice came from behind.

The Doctor found himself being questioned from all corners of the house.

“I used to have a machine, of some sort. That’s how I came to Earth. If I had it with me, I could probably have gotten you home to Isabel,” he said.

This strange man was continuously shocking Emelie with his revelations.

“He lived in 1190, you’d need to, like, travel back in time or something,” Emelie suggested.

“Yes I would,” the Doctor agreed. He was seemingly unaware that Emelie was now even more confused.

“Wait, a _time machine_? You had a time machine?”

“Something like that, I guess. I didn’t really have a chance to use it often,” he soon turned his attention to Richard.

“That being said, you are in the history books as having gone missing, and Isabel dying a widow a year later. I couldn’t take you back there without causing a time paradox.”

Richard stood disappointed again. This day was just full of horrific revelations and disappointments now.

“Well to Hell with the history books! Change history!” Emelie exclaimed.

“Time can’t be rewritten. Not once you’ve read it. It’s fixed, can’t be changed.”

The house became eerily silent at that point. No-one dared to raise their voice.

Emelie watched the three of them as they just stood there. The lost knight, the time-travelling alien, and the would-be reporter.

“Right now, we should try and get you set up here. Is there anything we can do to help you?” the Doctor asked.

Richard took some time to even register the Doctor’s question.

“All of this is new to me. I might as well be in a completely different realm. I’d need to know as much as I can about life here,” Richard thought. “While I wish you could find a way to take me back home, I would still very much appreciate your assistance in finding a new life here.”

The Doctor smiled, happy he was finally able to get through to the knight. He gestured to Richard to leave the house, and follow them down the road.

He took one last look at Isabel’s house. The memories of the house when it was brand new were still etched into his mind. They would never leave him. Nor would the memory of Isabel.

The three of them began walking down the road, towards Matfen.

“Is anyone in need of a knight anymore?” he asked them.

“Erm, not really no. We’ve moved on from horseback and swords,” the Doctor replied.

“There’s an old abbey in the centre of the village! Built around 1170, I reckon. St. Robert’s?” Emelie added.

“We’ll start there. I could be a knight there,” Richard said, still under the assumption he wouldn’t have to change jobs.

“Or just be a historian. You’d be perfect, actual knowledge of it when it was new. You’d be famous,” the Doctor thought.

“Here be Sir Richard Melvin, Lost Knight of Matfen!”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMING UP:   
> Someone has been watching...


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

Robert had left the safety of the hill some time ago, but was still loving the responses he was getting on social media surrounding the knight and the Dragon. So many people were divided on whether or not the videos were genuine, or just a silly prank.

For Robert, he didn’t care one bit, just seeing the response his posts had received was good enough for him.

As he left the site of the Mine, he continued to look through his Twitter feed. He failed to spot a set of three SUVs driving up to the site. They were jet black in colour, and the windows were tinted so much that you couldn’t see a single thing inside.

Eventually, Robert saw the cars coming up and grinded to a halt. The SUVs stopped a short distance away.

In the nearest SUV, the passenger-side door opened to reveal a woman in a very formal black suit, her eyes covered with sunglasses.

“Really keeping up the stereotype, aren’t you?” Robert called out to her.

He wished he hadn’t said anything as he spotted the other doors opening in the other SUVs to reveal armed SWAT soldiers, holding their rifles tightly by their chests.

“Ah,” Robert muttered to himself.

The woman strode up to him, her face displaying next to no emotion at all.

“Robert Davison?” she asked him.

He quickly nodded.

“You’ve been trending on Twitter, I hear?”

“Erm, yeah. Just a little though, not like--”

“Give me your phone,” she interjected, extending her hand out to him.

Robert backed away a tad, not wanting to give her anything.

“I don’t think I will, it’s got all my--”

She wouldn’t take it for an answer, and instead snatched it from his hand.

Before Richard could properly respond, he was being escorted to one of the SUVs by two SWAT soldiers.

The mysterious woman pointed up to the sky, where the Rupture had been earlier that day.

A squad of soldiers strode up to her, weapons ready.

“You know what to do,” she said, before presenting a device from her pocket. The design was very much alien, not of this Earth.

She pressed a few buttons on the side, and suddenly, the Rupture appeared once more, splintering the area around it.

The soldiers aimed their guns to the sky, as the roar of a Dragon could be heard on the other side of the Rupture…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT TIME:  
> "The Monkey's Star"  
> For nearly 300 years, the small town of Gransea has been blessed with luck and promising wishes. But is there a price to pay for wishing for your deepest desires?


End file.
